Microsoft Tests Ad-Free Windows Search in New Update

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Microsoft is testing an updated Windows Search with fewer ads and improved relevance.

Microsoft’s Strategy for Cleaner Windows Search

Microsoft is currently evaluating an updated version of Windows Search designed to emphasize relevant results while minimizing the prominence of advertisements and promotional material. This initiative is part of an overarching strategy to enhance the Windows search functionality, first disclosed by Windows president Pavan Davuluri in March, with the goal of creating a more uniform user experience across the Start menu, taskbar, File Explorer, and Settings interface.

Deployment and User Access

As outlined in a blog post published on Monday by Jeff Petty and Anderson Aiziro from Microsoft’s Windows and Bing Search teams, the updates are being distributed to Windows Insiders in the Experimental channel through a series of Windows Search Box improvements that commenced on the same day. The deployment of the updated Windows Search follows a Controlled Feature Rollout approach, ensuring that not all Insider participants will receive the changes immediately. Users can restart their systems to check for availability, and the features can also be accessed through specific feature flags.

Enhancing User Experience

Users have expressed a desire for a search experience that is quicker, more accurate, and simpler to navigate when launching applications, locating files, or adjusting settings, stated Petty and Aiziro. Given that the Windows Search Box serves as the primary entry point for many, our initial focus was on enhancing the reliability, readability, and clarity of results prior to user interaction.

The updated results now explicitly disclose their origin, such as from an application, system setting, file, web search, or Store recommendation, enabling users to understand the nature of the content before selecting it.

New Configuration Options

A new configuration option within Settings > Privacy & Security > Search allows users to toggle the display of Microsoft Store and web suggestions in conjunction with local search results. Local content is given higher priority when it is the most relevant match, file searches now accommodate two-character queries and offer enhanced visibility for cloud-stored files, and the search function has been improved to handle typographical errors and partial input when locating applications.

Reliability and Future Updates

Microsoft has also implemented reliability enhancements, such as minimizing system crashes and addressing loading problems, with additional updates expected in the near future. The search functionality now more effectively retrieves the appropriate local files, including support for two-character file queries. Enhancements have also been made to display cloud and connected files in results when they are the most relevant option. These modifications aid users in locating documents more efficiently.

Feedback and Ongoing Development

The company noted that these updates incorporate previous user feedback and urged Windows 11 Insiders to provide further insights through the Feedback Hub under the Desktop Environment > Search category. In May, as part of the same initiative to enhance Windows 11 performance and uniformity, Microsoft initiated trials of a customizable taskbar and Start menu, alongside an accelerated, modernized Windows Run dialog featuring dark mode compatibility, which is accessible to Insider participants in the Experimental channel.